he locked himself into some bad positions that he took during the republican primary, tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, refusing to ask the wealthiest for a dime to reduce the deficit and those give us big openings to talk about on the campaign trail in key states in the weeks ahead. >> vice president biden, meantime, said his boss did a good job drawing a bright line between his policies and mitt romney's. >> i think the president did a wonderful job in making it clear just how stark that choice is. >> keeping them honest, that is precisely where the pundits, even those who support president obama, say he dropped the ball and when we asked our viewers whether mr. obama did better or worse than expected, 61%, nearly two in three, said he did worse. as for why the president himself supplied an answer today. twice today out on the stump using nearly identical wording each time. listen. >> when i got out on the stage, i met this very spirited fellow who claimed to be mitt romney. but i know it couldn't have been mitt romney. because the real mitt romney's been running ar